April 2006 (4/24) - It looks like this year's Indy 500 Carb Day Concert will include the B-52's. They were a college type band back around 1979. They sing "Love Shack". Their upbeat music should work well on a a sunny afternoon in May." (4/23) - In today's San Marino grand prix Christian Albers got his racer upside down and walked away ok, as Jeff Simmons did in the IRL race yesterday. Lap 41 - Ferrari's Schumacher was holding up 2nd place Fernando Alonso, so Renault changed their strategy and pit early. Schumacher pit the next lap and got back in before Alonso went by. Schumacher won the race. (4/22) - Jeff Simmons, who took over Paul Dana's ride, seems to be keeping the same luck. He got caught up in a wreck today at the IRL race in Japan and flipped upside down before flipping right side up. Helio Castroneves won again today. Now that the IRL has a pretty even package for everyone, we are seeing that he and Dan Wheldon are the best drivers in the series. For now. Dixon, Hornish, Kanaan and Franchitti are keeping up. Wow, the IRL actually let Honda be the pace car. In Florida, and now Japan. (4/22) - Michael Schumacher captured the pole position at Imola today and broke another record. The "Wilt Chamberlain" of F1 knocked Ayrton Senna from the record books for having the most career pole positions. I'm not aware of any more important records left for Schumi to break. (4/21) - IRL Point-leader Helio Castroneves was awarded the pole position for the Indy Japan 300 after today's qualifying session was canceled because of rain. Sam Hornish, Jr and Jeff Simmons crashed during practice. Helio was fastest in practice. Tomas Enge was a late substitute for owner Eddie Cheever Jr., who will miss the Indy Japan 300 while he competes with his Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series team at Virginia International Raceway. (4/13) - Six winning drivers are among the highlights of the entry list for the 90th Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 28 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The six winners on this year's list include defending champion Dan Wheldon, Buddy Rice (2004), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Eddie Cheever Jr. (1998), Buddy Lazier (1996) and Al Unser Jr. (1992, 1994). It's the largest number of past winners on the entry list since 2002, when six previous visitors to Victory Lane also were named to entries for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." A total of 26 drivers have been named to the 38 entries filed this year for the 33 starting spots in the world's most prestigious auto race. Sixty-six cars are included on those 38 entries, including backup cars. This will be Unser's first attempt to qualify at Indianapolis since 2004. He has 17 previous Indianapolis 500 starts, the most of any driver named to an entry. Another past winner making a comeback is Cheever. He is driving the No. 51 Cheever Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone in his first attempt to make the field since 2002. A high-profile comeback also is taking center stage at defending race champion Andretti Green Racing. Indy legend Michael Andretti will attempt to race in the "500" for the first time since 2003, driving the No. 1 Jim Beam/Vonage Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Andretti will attempt to earn his long-coveted first Indy 500 victory. He has led 426 laps during his 14 prior Indy starts, the most by any driver without a victory. The three rookie drivers registered so far include Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Marco Andretti and P.J. Chesson. (4/10) - Tensions are still simmering in the Red Bull camp after David Coulthard and Toro Rosso's Scott Speed clashed on and off the track at Melbourne. Speed was fined for swearing at Coulthard in a stewards' hearing but the American is unrepentant and claims Coulthard "started being a bit physical." "He was very disrespectful toward me," Speed said at a press conference. "The fact we have the same parent company, Red Bull, and that we're part of the same family means that eventually things will cool down. As it is right now, there's certainly a lot of tension between us." (4/9) - Has Nascar thought of a way to finally take some attention back from the IRL's Danica Patrick? In Sunday's race, Greg Biffle was crashed out by Kurt Busch. So Biffle's girlfriend Nicole Lunders marched over to the No. 2 pit and confronted Busch's fiancée Eva Bryan. The two had words before Lunders stormed off and had to be calmed down by Matt Kenseth's wife, Katie. Soap opera or Cat fights in the planning? Why don't the teams hire cheerleaders? That would rock. Here, go check out the NBA Cheerleaders The NFL rocks too. Start at one of my favorites - The San Diego Charger Cheerleaders (4/9) - The Champcar season kicked off today with their "premeire" event in Long Beach. When they were going to lose this street race last year to the IRL, they bought it outright somehow. There was a pile up at the first turn on the first lap. Several cars were out early in the race. Sebastian Bourdais won the race. Race Notes: A rookie driver is named "Will Power". They've jumped on the Danica bandwagon and have a girl from the UK driving. Jimmy Vasser has been convinced to return for a few more race this year. The IRL has also coaxed some old timers back - Michael Andretti and Eddie Cheever Jr., Roberto Morina showed up as is Buddy Lazier. Last week's IRL street race at St Pete was a success and a welcome win for Helio Castroneves. Danica Patrick finished in 6th! Fernando Alonso won his 2nd race of the year at the Australian Grand Prix. The safety car made 4 appearances during this crashfilled race. (4/8) - Lance Armstrong will drive the Corvette pace car for the Indy 500 in 2006. Now I'm a big fan of the Corvette, but this just doesn't seem right to me. After GM gave up on trying to build a competitive engine for Indycar racing, why are their cars still being used as pace vehicles? I mean that is some major advertising the IRL or IMS is giving to Chevy. The pace cars have always been American brands, but the car company would also have some cars in the Indy 500. If the American car companys can't compete at Indy, maybe they should cut back on Nascar or F1. If they don't race, then they should stay home. Honda is staying and keeping the IRL alive and they don't even get to advertise their cars?! I don't think Chevy will get serious about racing Indycar if the IRL is going to let them pace and get all of that advertising anyway. (4/6) - Toyota F1's chassis technical director Mike Gascoyne has quit the team after the team suspended him. Previously technical director at Renault, Gascoyne joined Toyota in December 2003 and his contract with the team was due to end this year. (4/4) - Jeff Simmons has won 7 races in the Indy Pro Series. He is stepping up to Indycars and taking over Paul Dana's ride at Rahal Letterman Racing.

INDYCAR CRASH VIDEO (158Mb, 720x480) - March 26 at Homestead - Paul Dana hits Ed Carpenter INDYCAR CRASH VIDEO 2(48Mb, 720x480) Play with Media Player.

Paul Dana (1975-2006) Paul Dana began his IRL career by racing in the Infiniti Pro Series. Dana sought out and brought sponsor Ethanol to the IRL. He moved up to Indycar last year in 2005, driving for Hemelgarn Racing. When they got to Indy in May, Dana spun and hit the wall backward early in the month during practice. He came back the next day, spun again in the short chute, but broke his back this time. Dana would be out the rest of the season to heal. He was assuredly excited when he found that the Rahal Letterman team wanted him to drive for them beginning this season. (March 26, 2006) During practice this morning for the IRL's opener at Homestead Miami, Ed Carpenter hit the wall and drifted down into the race line. A few drivers avoided him, but Dana hit him at 176 mph, sending both drivers to the hospital. Carpenter is in stable condition, however Paul Dana did not survive. When word came at noon about Dana, the Rahal Letterman team withdrew their other drivers, Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice, from the race. Paul with his wife Tonya in 2004

March 2006 (3/30) - A Hoosier racing tradition is coming to an end apparently. The annual Hoosier Hundred sprint car race which is held the Friday before the Indy 500 will not be ran this year. The race has been ran at the 1-mile track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds since 1946. Many Indy 500 stars have raced in it over the years. It has also been called the Hulman Hundred and the Foyt Hundred. The whole reason that the event will not be ran is because the fairground's insurance company insists that the fencing and guardrails need to be replaced. The State Fair officials said refurbishing the barriers could cost millions of dollars. (3/26) - The IRL's first race of 2006 was today at Homestead. The day began with tears and ended in cheers. 3 minutes into final practice this morning at 10 a.m., Ed Carpenter lost his backend and hit the wall, then slid down the track. Before Paul Dana realized Carpenter's predicament, he slammed into him at 176 mph, reminiscent of the CART accident where Zanardi got T-boned and lost his legs several years ago in Germany. This time though, it was the hitter that took the worst of it. Track workers had to revive Carpenter. Both drivers were airlifted to the hospital. At 12:45 it was announced that Paul Dana was dead at age 30. Carpenter appears to be ok and has no broken bones. Dana had been a sports reporter as well as a promising young race car driver. He spent a few years in the Indy Pro Series and had even started on the pole at Homestead in 2004. Last year, he moved up to Indycar, driving for Hemelgarn racing. Dana missed out on most of his Indycar rookie season though because he broke his back during practice for the Indy 500 last May. Upon recovery late in 2005, he was picked to drive for Rahal Letterman Racing, joining sports sensation, Danica Patrick and 2004 Indy 500 Champion, Buddy Rice. Both drivers withdrew from the race after the news of their teammate's death. The last Indycar driver to die was also a newly chosen rookie who was to drive for Rahal Letterman Racing. Tony Renna died while practicing at the Indy Speedway in 2003. Dana's wife Tonya was here in Indianapolis attending church when she heard the tragic news. Paul Dana biography Age: 30. Born in St. Louis, Mo., on April 15, 1975. • Family: Dana and his wife, Tonya, have no children. Their home is in Indianapolis. • Education: Bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern. • Before driving: Started as a motorsports journalist and wrote for several magazines, including Autoweek and Sports Illustrated. • Driving experience: 1996-1997, debuted in Bridgestone Racing School Mechanics Championship and won three races; 1998-1999, ran in Skip Barer Formula Dodge Series, earning six wins and seven poles; 2000, competed in Formula Ford 1600 SCCA Nationals; 2001, made national USF2000 series debut, earning two top fives, and finished second in U.S. F3 series debut at Mosport Park; 2003, six top-10 finishes as a rookie in Indy Pro Series; 2004, finished second in Indy Pro Series points, including a victory at Milwaukee Mile; 2005, drove in three IRL IndyCar Series races, finishing 10th in debut at Homestead-Miami, but sustained season-ending broken back in crash during practice for Indianapolis 500 in May; 2006, signed with Rahal Letterman Racing. The race started with a smaller field than planned. Marco Andretti jumped the start in his debut Indycar race and dropped out early due to a broken half-shaft. Tony Kanaan and Bryan Herta crashed late in the race. The last 15 laps had the entire audience on their feet holding their breath as they watched 2006 Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon duel with Helio Castroneves for the lead. They ran side by side at 215 mph with Sam Hornish, Jr, Dario Franchitti, and Scott Dixon running 3 wide right behind them. Castroneves held onto to lead until Wheldon pulled a few inches ahead of him at the finish line, denying Castroneves a hometown win for the third time. (3/25) - It was cold, rainy and snowy in Bristol this weekend. Cup qualifying in Bristol was rained out Friday while the Busch race was stopped for a whiteout after just 32 laps. As Frosty the Snowman blared over the track PA system, teams and drivers entertained themselves during the delay by throwing snowballs at each other and the fans. One crew even built a small snowman along pit road. The snow eventually stopped, the sun came out and racing resumed after a delay of 1 hour, 19 minutes. (3/22) - In an interview to the L.A. Times, Tony George said he and Kalkhoven would both like to see a merger of the IRL and Champcar. George said, "I'm one of many people who believe that open-wheel racing would be better served by a unified IRL and Champ Car. There is a lot of hair on this cat — it's not easy. Nothing is imminent." (3/19) - The Atlanta Nascar Cup race was postponed due to rain and will be ran tomorrow at 11 am, Kasey Kahne on pole. (3/19) - Malaysian Grand Prix Giancarlo Fisichella got the pole position. Rookie sensation Nico Rosberg started an amazing P3 ahead of his teammate Mark Webber who would start in P4. Unfortunately for WilliamsF1, Nico's engine blew, spectacularly by the way, on the 8th lap and Webber would be out 8 laps later. No drivers have been on the podium in Malaysia except for Schumi, Kimi and Alonso. This tradition was broken by the first lap, when Kimi spun and wrecked out of the race. Schumi had an engine change and had to start from the rear of the pack, along with four other drivers. He would work his way up into the points by race end. I started to get excited when Jacques Villeneuve passed Trulli, but as usual, everyone else began to pass him too. None the less, JV came home in the points and he showed up with a new girlfriend. Malaysia's idea of a flyover or practice for terrorist? Fisi, Button and Alonso were 1,2,3 respectively for much of the race, but by lap 43 Alonso won 2nd place thanks to fast pitwork. Nick Heidfeld's engine blew with just 8 laps remaining. Fisichella held on to win his third career F1 victory moving him into 4th in the points standing. Meanwhile Jenson Button ties a record of having the most podium finishes without a win in F1 history. Note: the ticket price for the Malaysian g.p. is $13. (3/13) - Patrick Faure is quitting as Renault's Formula One director, to be replaced by former team finance chief Alain Dassas. The announcement comes the day after Renault's defending world champion Fernando Alonso opened the 2006 championship with victory in Bahrain. "Our objective is to maintain the successful momentum of the team," said Renault's chief executive Carlos Ghosn. Dassas will replace Faure after the Australian Grand Prix. The Rosbergs of Finland! 20-year old Nico Rosberg was hired to drive for WilliamsF1 this year and he scored points in his first F1 race March 12th at Bahrain. Not only that, but he came back from a first lap collision to work his way up to 7th, right behind his team mate, Mark Webber. Nico's father was excited, "It was unbelievable to have a fastest race lap under normal conditions in your first ever Grand Prix I don't think anybody has ever had that. Phenomenal." Jackie Stewart was positive on Rosberg's race: "I think it's the best performance of any young driver that I've seen for a very long time. I can't remember a performance in a first Grand Prix that was so impressive. I had a sixth place in my first Grand Prix but he came from the back and I certainly didn't get fastest lap. His judgement and the manner in which he went about it is a rare commodity today but as a racing driver he knows how to pass and showed it." (3/6) - The Formula One season kicks off this weekend when they travel to Bahrain. There are 11 teams this year and 18 races. The engines are new this year, 750 H.P. 2.4 liter V-8's instead of the 900 H.P. 3-liter V-10's. However, Toro Rosso is using a restricted V-10. Williams, Toyota and Super Aguri join Ferrari and MF1 as teams using Bridgestone tires. The rest of the teams will by running Michelin tires. Qualifying procedures have been changed again - Instead of 1 flyling lap, all the drivers will now go out on the track Saturday afternoon at the same time. Every 15-20 minutes or so, as they race around the circuit, the slowest drivers will be yanked out and placed at the furthest spot left open on the grid. The top 10 qualifiers must start the race with the same amount of fuel as they had at the start of the last qualifying session. Apparently the other 12 drivers can fill up if they wish. There are three F1 rookies this year. America's Scott Speed drives for Scuderia Toro Rosso. Germany's Nico Rosberg drives for WilliamsF1. Japan's Yuji Ide drives for Super Aguri. (3/3) - Grand Prix racing is 100 years old. Indycar racing is 95. The IRL and this website is 10. There are 531 webpages on this site so far. (3/3) - The IRL has been testing at a 2.21-mile road course at Homestead yesterday and today. Helio Castroneves of Team Penske has been fastest both days. Testing wraps up this Sunday and the IRL season will kick off at Homestead at the end of this month. Tomas Scheckter's new car is cool. (3/2) - Rusty Wallace was at Homestead today driving one of Penske's Indycars. The 1989 NASCAR champion is preparing for his role as a television analyst for ABC Sports and ESPN's coverage of this year's IRL season, and was taking a few laps to see how they handle. "I tell you what, I gotta get one of these at home," Wallace said. "I had a good time. I feel like I need to breathe a little while and then try it again. I need to talk to Penske about running a third car at Indy. You never know."

February 2006 Photos of new 2006 Formula One Cars plus Drivers (2/22) - Eddie Cheever, Jr. is going to begin racing Indycars again this year. For the last three years, the owner of Cheever Racing has been busy running the team. This year, they decided to just run a Indy Pro Series car. But now Cheever has decided to go ahead and run the first 4 IRL races of the year as well. It will be nice to see Eddie racing at Indianapolis again. Michael Andretti is also getting back behind the wheel of an Indycar this Spring. He will be racing against his son, Marco. How fitting. (2/20) - The race at Spa in Belgium has been removed from the Formula One calendar for '06. (2/19) - DAYTONA 500 - A year or two ago I gave up on complaining about NASCAR letting Tony Stewart get away with his dirty stunts, but after the incident with Matt Kenseth in today's Daytona 500, I must speak up again. First, here are the words Stewart spoke a few days ago: "We're gonna kill somebody," Stewart said. "Somebody else is gonna die at Daytona or Talladega with what we're doing right here. I hope I'm not around when it happens." What he meant by "we're" is Crew Chief Zipadelli and himself. The Daytona 500 is not even over with as I write this, but Stewart has already intentionally taken out two guys that could have won today. Early in the race Stewart went into the wall to put Jeff Gordon there. Around lap 120 he blatantly swept down and pushed Matt Kenseth off into the grass as they both ran near the front at 190 mph. Kenseth's car came back up on the track in the corner right in front of oncoming cars which managed to avoid him. Instead of having Stewart arrested for attempted homicide, or even just kicking him out, NASCAR sends him to the back of the pack during a yellow. As the in-car camera switched to show him, he reached over an spun the camera away so no one could see him. As he and Kenseth accelerated out of the pits, Kenseth, angered, sped up and jumps onto the track so that he can pull up beside Stewart to let him know he'd like to drive him into the grass. NASCAR then hands Kenseth a stop-and-go penalty. Update: Stewart and Kyle Busch got into it later. It looked to me like Bush was unitentional and Stewart obviously retaliated. Not surprisingly, NASCAR did nothing to Stewart, but gave Busch a stop-and-go during a green flag late in the race, thereby eliminating him from a good finish. Stewart finished 5th, Kenseth 15th, Kyle Busch 26th and Jeff Gordon 28th. Jeff Green, No.66, top, shows rear-end damage as Joe Nemechek, No. 01, weaves through traffic after a crash where Carl Edwards, No. 99 plowed into Kyle Petty's No.45 during the Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson won, capping a roller-coaster week that saw NASCAR kick his crew chief out of competition for cheating. Jimmie's wife, Chandra. (That trophy looks like the Mach 5) Go Speed Racer GO (2/16) - Patrick Dempsey has become a part-owner of the Vision Racing IRL team. Dempsey is a tv and movie actor. He appears in ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy' as Dr. Derek Shepherd. Vision also recently announced that they had hired Tomas Scheckter as a teammate for Ed Carpenter. Scheckter has two wins and eight poles, and 1,311 laps led, in four seasons of IndyCar competition. He's quick, but he's known for wrecking. Vision also hired David Cripps, Scheckter's former engineer at Panther Racing. (2/10) - Panther Racing has signed 2005 Indianapolis 500 runner-up Vitor Meira, the team said Friday. The 28-year-old Brazilian has four career second-place finishes but never has won a race in the Indy Racing League, something he and Panther co-owner Mike Griffin hope to change this season. (2/6) - Remember when one of the big obstacles to a CART-IRL Unification, according to the IRL, was the fact that the IRL bought their engines and CART rented theirs. Well the IRL is now leasing their engines and of course it is costing more money. According to PDM Racing owner Paul Diatlovich, he payed $32k for 3 engines in 2003 which he owned. This year's cost to lease a Honda is $250,000 for the full month; $115,000 after the first weekend of qualifying. Beck Motorsports owner Greg Beck fears his IRL days are over. "I am tapped out (financially)," he said. With leased engines, racing on road courses, higher costs and the subsequent elimination of poorer teams, the IRL seems to becoming what CART was. With the bad moves by management with marketing and losing tracks and with the engine manufacturer's leaving, the IRL seems to be on the verge of duplicating the downfall of CART. They are even filling up with foreign drivers. So far, it is looking like there will only be 7 Americans in the IRL for '06. Indy Car has lost a couple of big teams over the winter. IRL fans can say goodbye to Team Menard who still manage to run a whole bevy of Cup cars. They were also title sponsor of the IRL's Infiniti Pro Series. Infact it is now called the Indy Pro Series - no word on what happened to Infiniti, the luxury Japanese car company who supplied the powerplants. Also, Red Bull's sponsorship in Cheever Racing ended last year and so the team has dropped out of Indy Car and started a Pro Series team as well as a Grand Am team. (2/6) - Al Unser, Sr., 66, is recovering from surgery on liver cancer and Johnny Rutherford, 67, had prostate cancer surgery in November. (2/5) - In a smart marketing move, the Indy 500 was advertised for about 15 seconds during Super Bowl XL. They mananged to show A.J. Foyt in the winner's circle, Danica Patrick, a close finish and Dan Wheldon in winner's circle. Thankfully, they did not play the "I Am Indy" song. (2/5) - FIA president Max Mosley has proposed that Formula 1’s manufacturer-backed teams should no longer receive a share of the sport’s commercial revenues from 2008, after the Concorde Agreement ends. Mosley argues that the big car companies should lose their right to income because they have sufficient wherewithal of their own and because they treat Formula 1 as a promotional or marketing activity rather than their core business. Mosley has repeatedly warned that F1 faces a financial meltdown in the near future unless it takes drastic action to cut costs, and that the sport must be viable for independent teams because they are the lynchpins of F1 while carmakers come and go.

January 2006 Photos of new 2006 Formula One Cars plus Drivers (1/28) - Rolex 24 Hrs : The No. 39 Cheever Racing entry, with 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr., and Indy 500 veterans Patrick Carpentier and Christian Fittipaldi sharing the workload, was poised for a podium finish before it retired with two hours remaining because of an engine problem. The team, which led 74 laps, finished 17th overall (1/28) - The Target Chip Ganassi team won America's most prestigious endurance race - The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Two of the drivers on the team are IRL champions, Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon. A third drivers was Casey Mears whom races in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series. It is going to take a while to get used to seeing Wheldon in a red Target suit. DANICA AT ROLEX 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA Danica Patrick's teammates were Rusty Wallace, Allan McNish and Jan Lammers. (1/27) - Rusty Wallace, who just retired from stock car racing, has joined ABC & ESPN television as a race announcer. He will call some Nascar races and the IRL races including the Indy 500. (01/23) - The first foreign car company to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series will be Toyota. Toyota says it will run 4 Busch teams and 4 Cup teams. Bill Davis Racing & Michael Waltrip Racing are planning on switching to Toyota as of now. Toyota will continue to run in the NASCAR's Truck Series and Formula One, but are dropping out of Indy Car. Someone told me yesterday that Toyota now sells more cars in America than Chevy, Chrysler or Ford. I found that hard to believe and went looking for answers. Here is the best thing I could find: "U.S. automakers' stranglehold on much of the Midwest is eroding. From 2000 to 2004, their share of the Midwest market fell from 78.6% to 71.2%, according to R.L. Polk & Co., which tracks auto registrations. Asian automakers' share went from 17.6% to 24.2%. The Midwest — North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan — is Detroit's biggest market. On the East and West coasts, Detroit vehicles make up about 50% of sales; in the South, they make up about 60%." (1/19) - The Aston Martin DB9 is perhaps my favorite road car. ASD Racing announced today that they will be racing two DB9's in the 2006 SCCA Speed World Challenge Series. Cool. (01/15) - Reigning NASCAR CUP Champion Tony Stewart flipped his midget car during opening laps of Friday night's qualifying Heat 8 for the Chili Bowl in Tulsa. Stewart hurt his right arm, but says he will be competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona as well as the opening of the Cup series. (01/12) - A new IRL team is on the horizon - Yellow Ribbon Racing. It was created to raise awareness and support for U.S. troops in harm's way while protecting our freedom. (01/23) - A thief swiped a trailer outside a race shop in Indianapolis and got away with the IRL car Robbie Buhl takes around to hospitals when he visits sick children. (01/11) - The IRL made one of it's most impressive marketing moves a few years ago when it hired John Mellencamp and A) used his beautiful super model wife as its spokesperson and B) used his awesome song, "Peaceful World" as the IRL's theme song in commercials. It was a perfect song for the IRL and the nation at the time. The IRL says they are now going to use Gene Simmons as a spokesman. Ugly, hairy and old Gene used to be the frontman for the 70's rock band Kiss. What his appeal is now, I'm not exactly sure. He has also developed a new theme song for the IRL called "I Am Indy". Thankfully, it only lasts 90 seconds. (01/06) - IRL Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick just cannot stay out of the spotlight. The news wire tonight says she is going to compete in The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona! Patrick, 23, will work with retiring NASCAR Nextel Cup star Rusty Wallace's team for the January 28 race, which features Daytona Prototype cars and lasts 24 hours over a 3.56-mile road course as teams rotate drivers. (1/3) - Danica Patrick made history last May by becoming the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500, a performance that was remembered by sports fans and media during year-end awards voting. Patrick, who became the highest-finishing woman ever in the Indianapolis 500, was named Female Athlete of the Year by the United States Sports Academy after dominating a worldwide Internet election hosted by usatoday.com. Patrick also was runner-up in media voting for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, trailing only golf superstar Annika Sorenstam. Patrick also ranked No. 6 among 30 athletes in fan voting at ESPN.com in the "Who Was The Ultimate Face of 2005, SportsNation?" poll. IndyCar® Series rookie Patrick electrified the sports world in May after qualifying fourth for the 89th Indianapolis 500, leading three times for 19 laps and finishing fourth after a thrilling late-race duel with eventual winner Dan Wheldon. She was named JPMorgan Chase Bank Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. (1/3) - WilliamsF1 acquired Alexander Wurz from McLaren. His role will be third driver, which means he gets to practice on Fridays before the race as well as be backup driver incase one of the other two drivers cannot race.